It was Wednesday and almost time for me to meet Xander at the diner. I had just gone on a wolf run with Weston, so I had to shower. I've been attempting to make more time for Weston since I was ditching him for Xander a lot and couldn't exactly tell him why. He'd understand if he knew, but I still felt bad.
Rummaging through my clothes, I tried picking out something stylish. Over the weeks I've felt like I could express myself more. Xander always wore such perfected outfits, similar to Weston. I used to only wear black shirts and jeans, but now I'm experimenting more.
I picked out a pair of black ripped jeans Luna got me for Christmas, a white shirt, and a red flannel with a hood on the back. I used some gel to tame my curls in place. Studying myself in the mirror, I suddenly felt self conscious of all my scars. The one across my eye and the claw marks on my neck where a rogue tried to end my life looked more prominent than ever. They never bothered me too much until I stared at Xander who only had a few practically invisible small scars. It reminded me of how different our experiences were. How different I was.
Blaze. Please come to my office. Alpha mindlinked me. Sighing, I glanced at the clock. It was 5:30 and I needed to leave in 15 minutes. I quickly sent a text to Xander saying I may be late before I headed to Alpha's office.
I paused outside his door, hearing voices laughing and casually talking. Taking a deep breath, I knocked. I heard Alpha shout for me to come in, and I was instantly hit with a familiar scent.
"Alpha Zach, this is my other son, Blaze!" Alpha introduced, but I could barely move as I stared at my uncle in bewilderment. Uncle Zach raised his eyebrows and had a smirk on his lips while he watched me. He wasn't surprised to see me, which means he found out somehow about me and Xander. And I'm sure my shock gave away that I knew who he was.
Uncle Zach stood from his chair and reached out his hand. I hesitantly shook it, grimacing a little at the feeling of being caught red handed. "Nice to meet you! Are you the one becoming Alpha or is Lyle?" His eyes burned whole in me as he practically called out everything we've been hiding from him.
Alpha chuckled a little and patted me on the back. "Blaze is adopted, so Lyle is the next in line. But Blaze is our head trainer! He is an amazing warrior. Just a few weeks ago he took out a rogue in his human form with ease!" Alpha bragged in his proud voice. Uncle Zach seemed to light up at Alpha's tone, as if he realized I was raised by people who loved me. Maybe that made him feel less guilty about my situation.
In this moment, I was silently thanking the mood goddess that Xander and I took after our mother. Uncle Zach had blonde hair and dark eyes, making us look nothing alike if you aren't look for the resemblance. We had the same nose and sharp jawline. But not enough to cause suspicion.
I saw Uncle Zach stare intensely at my neck, which made me more insecure about my scars. "Blaze, Alpha Zach is the Alpha of the Black Heart pack. We were just chatting about some rogues in the area we are monitoring, and we got on the discussion of warrior training programs. That's why I called you here!"
Nodding slowly, I tried so hard not express any unwanted emotions in front of Alpha. "Oh! I need to run and talk to my Beta real quick. Why don't you guys chat while I'm gone?" Alpha suddenly announced. He must've got mindlinked. Before I could object, Alpha was out the door, leaving me in a very awkward situation.
"So um, how did you find out?" I asked timidly, feeling guilty about hiding everything from him.
He laughed, standing up and walking closer to me. "Xander has always been terrible at keeping secrets. And Lilith has had a tracking spell on him for years. As soon as I started getting curious on where he was, I had Lilith track him and find out what he was up to." I nodded slowly, figuring this would happen at some point. Before I could respond, Uncle Zach embraced me, tightly squeezing me as if I'd vanish if he didn't. "I'm so glad you are okay," he mumbled into me. He was slightly shorter than me, so his head was practically in my chest.
He let go and examined my face. His thumb brushed over the scar on my neck, but he didn't say anything. "So warrior trainer, huh? The Alpha seems pretty proud of you."
I shrugged, not really sure how to respond. "Yeah, he's been pretty nice to me over the years," I said vaguely.
"He considers you a son. Not sure if I'd call that just being nice. And you live with his family, don't you?" He questioned, making this feel like an interrogation.
"Yeah, him and Luna have been my parents for years. They really love me. I know they do. But the pack has been quite harsh to me, and I don't feel right here," I confessed, shuffling my feet uncomfortably.
He nodded in understanding. "You're meant to be an Alpha, not a warrior of this random pack. You've probably felt that need to leave," he assured me, but it didn't sit right him saying I'm supposed to be an Alpha.
I shrugged, only partially agreeing with his words. "I think this was meant to happen. I was never meant to be an Alpha, but Xander was. It worked out for the best," I said honestly, but this only made him look at me with confusion.
"You weren't meant to be Alpha of the pack alone. You AND Xander were going to be the Alphas, despite you being older. Your father decided that as soon as you guys started training," he explained, making me pause. My mouth formed an "oh" as I digested his words. "You are still welcome back, my boy. Even if you don't want to be Alpha, we could use a warrior like you. Black Hearts will always be your home."
Alpha walked in, carrying a few papers. "I've got to head out now, but it was great talking to you, Alpha Zach," I said quickly, trying to avoid further questions. Alpha merely nodded as I practically ran out the door.
I jogged to my car while pulling out my phone. I dialed Xander and he was quick to pick up. "We have a problem," I say quickly, a little out of breath once I reach my car.
"Oh, I know," I female voice said over the line.
"Lilith. You need to stop tracking Xander. Ever heard of privacy?" I spit at her, but honestly I was glad to hear her voice. I heard her laugh over the line and Xander's voice in the background cursing at her.
"I'm a witch. Witches don't do privacy. I'll be joining your dinner date. Hurry up, I'm hungry!" The line went dead. I could tell this was going to be an interesting night.
When I walked into the diner, I instantly spotted the blonde vibrant girl harassing my twin. I cautiously made my way over to their table and sat next to Xander.
"Finally! I can't deal with her by myself!"Xander exasperated as he threw his hands in the air. Lilith laughed devilishly to egg on his behavior.
"Well you've done it alone for 10 years, why not 30 minutes more?" This made Lilith laugh harder and Xander to pout.
"I like him already!" Lilith cheered, holding up her hand for a high five. Once I clapped her hand, she cheered some more.
We ordered our usual food, and I found out that Lilith also likes mint milkshakes. Now she's been telling several embarrassing stories about Xander.
"And then he walked into the pack house naked!" She howled, causing me to laugh and Xander to simply blush. Talking about Xander's first shift made me think of a few questions to ask him.
"What color is your wolf?" Xander smiled at my question, enjoying the fact we weren't embarrassing him anymore.
He ate a fry before stating, "Black with white on my chest." I stopped my own chewing to stare at him wide eyed.
Lilith caught on quick. She seemed to be very intelligent and observant, similar to me, but more outspoken. "I'm gonna throw out a wild guess here and say your wolf is also black with white on the chest?" Lilith raised her eyebrow waiting for me to answer. I nodded, extremely confused. It was practically impossible to have the same wolf. I mean what if we have the same wolf? Would we not be able to shift at the same time?
"Cool!" Xander shouted, hugging my side.
Lilith stared at me and it was of we were having a silent conversation. "I've read about this before in my witch studies, where two people share the same wolf spirit. This usually happens for wolf spirits who are too powerful to be in one person. The spirit is split in two and inhabits both bodies, but when the two are together, it can harness great power. That could explain your extreme connection?" Lilith offered an explanation. I sat in deep thought, but Xander seemed unbothered by the news.
Suddenly, Xander stood up. "I guess the only way to confirm things is to go and shift!" These two were full of surprises. I glanced at Lilith for her opinion, but she seemed indifferent. "Since Uncle Zach already knows about you, you can come back to our pack lands and we can test our theory."
Without another thought, Xander was tugging us out of the diner. I followed behind his car and Lilith was behind me. We drove for about 10 minutes before I sensed the familiar woods. Xander pulled into a rocky path and drove for a few minutes before we reached a clearing. I hoped out of the car and took a big sniff of the familiar air. So many memories flooded back about growing up here. I felt safe here.
Xander didn't waste a moment before stripping down, and I followed in suit. It was a little awkward with Lilith right there, but she is our cousin. I just wasn't that comfortable yet. I felt her staring at all my scars once I took off my shirt. Majority of them are from when I was being tortured by the rogues. The most prominent one is always the one on my neck. The one that almost killed me. The one that should've killed me.
Xander and I began to shift at the same time. For some reason it felt easier to shift with him being there. And sure enough we were both midnight black with white on our chest. We were both huge, probably bigger than most Alphas.
Lilith started laughing hysterically, making us tilt our head in confusion. "The heart! That's so cute!" She gushed, pointing to our chests. I hadn't realized it at first, but when Xander and I stood next to each other, the white fur formed a heart. I had the right side, and he had the left.
Xander began nudging me, and I licked his nose in response. He tackled me and started licking my face.
Stop! I screamed in my mind, and to my surprise, he stopped. He looked at me wide eyes.
Can you hear me? His voice echoed in my mind and I instantly nodded. That's so cool!
We both got to our feet and shook off our fur. Lilith leaned against a tree staring at us curiously, but it felt like she wasn't staring at us, more like around us.
"You guys have a soul link. I can see it. If you let me try, I think I'll be able to connect the souls. I'm not sure what it will do, but sit down." Her suggestion turned into an order, and we followed. She began moving her hands and mumbling in a language I didn't understand. Not more than a few seconds later, I felt my body move very quickly as if a car hit me. I looked down at my feet to see I was much taller than before.
Are we in the same body?! Xander shouted, and that's when I realized we were.
Lilith clapped her hands vigorously, but she looked extremely small next to us. "You guys formed into one mega wolf! I think all you have to do is shift back and you'll be back to normal!" I felt like we were the size of a bus. The trees felt small. We shifted back and she was right. We were back to normal. "Well this is exciting!" She clapped her hands as Xander and I stared at each other in bewilderment.
"That's definitely something we should look into," Xander nervously laughed, throwing back on his clothes. I slowly put back on mine and checked my phone. I noticed 2 missed calls from Lyle, which instantly made me worry.
Before I had a second to think, Xander called over to me, "Blaze, what's wrong? I can feel your emotions for some reason."
I ignored this new ability to feel each other's feeling in that moment. I had other things to worry about. Frowning, I turned to my brother and cousin who were waiting for my answer. "Lyle called. He never calls."
Xander scoffed a little. "From what you've told me about him, he sounds like an ass, but it could be important. You should head back. It's getting late anyway." I grabbed all my belongings and gave Xander a small hug and Lilith a high five before rushing to my car.
I started driving back to the pack, but I was at least 30 minutes away. I decided to call him back and put him on speaker. He answered almost immediately, which I was thankful for. I hate being sent to voicemail.
"Why did you call?" I asked, straight to the point.
"Oh good, you're alive," he mocked. My ears burned from anger... Obviously this wasn't important if he was acting like this.
"You were supposed to go to your follow up appointment today. And you didn't." I lost a little focus on the road as I thought about what he was saying. I forgot about the appointment that I made weeks ago, so why did he know?
"Did someone call from the clinic? How'd you know about it? I'll reschedule it." So many things were rushing through my mind. Why did he care so much? But a better question: why did I want him to?
There was some silence on the other end before he answered. "No, I, uh, went to the clinic because I knew you had the appointment set for today. But you were a no show at 6." His answer confused me. My question still stood: why did he care?
"Why?" I couldn't stop myself from asking quite sharply.
"Well I don't know why you didn't show up. You're supposed to answer that," he sassed over the line.
I rolled my eyes even though he couldn't see me. "No, I was asking why you went to the clinic. The appointment was for me, not you."
There was another brief silence over the line. "Because you worry me. Why is my warrior missing doctor appointments and always out doing mysterious things?" He snapped at me. I was nearing home, so I slowed down to extend this conversation. I also didn't feel like facing him at home just yet.
"I'm not doing mysterious things. I'm just hanging out with friends and enjoying my senior year. God forbid I forget about a doctors appointment!" With my frustration, I felt a sense of worry, which I knew wasn't mine. Xander was worrying about me.
"Your only friend is Weston, but you haven't been hanging out with him. So you've made some mysterious new friends," he accused, and I just couldn't understand why he cared so much.
"Seriously, Lyle? I made new friends, so what? I'm happy, which means Luna is happy, which means a happy household. Get over yourself, and stay out of my business!" I hung up the phone and slammed it into the passengers seat as I pulled into the driveway. Thankfully, Lyle's car wasn't there. But Luna's was.
I walked in a little somber. The loss of connection to Xander didn't hit me until now. It lightly burned my soul to be away from him. I could only imagine what a mate felt like.
Luna was in the kitchen cleaning up from dinner. Alpha and Lyle were no where to be seen, which meant they probably were off doing Alpha business.
Once Luna noticed me, she began wiping her hands on a dish towel. "Oh sweetie, you're home! Did you want something to eat or did you eat already?" I felt guilty almost instantly. She always had a worried look on her face and always cared way more about me than she should.
I shook my head. "No, I went out to eat with some new friends," I confessed and watched her face instantly light up.
"Oh from school or the pack?" She sat down at the table, now fascinated with what I had to say. I felt like I owed her some sort of explanation, especially since I had already made up my mind that I was going to switch packs. I needed to ease her into the idea.
"Umm, not really," I scratched my head, only intriguing her more. "I met some people from another pack during a hockey match. I've been hanging out with them a bit. It's been nice," I explained, partially telling the truth.
She beamed at my statement and instantly stood up and hugged me right. When she pulled away she said, "I'm glad you found people you enjoy spending time with. I know this pack hasn't been the most inviting, but I'm so happy you found some wolves that are."
Giving her a weak smile I responded, "Me too." I pecked a kiss on her forehead and went up to my room.
I didn't waste a second pulling out my laptop and researching colleges with exercise science programs. Instantly a familiar college came up: a small campus called North Wilson College. The program was very vigorous from what I could tell and had great graduation rates. I knew my grades were next to perfect, plus I did hockey, and I could say I volunteer teaching self defense classes. The college was a bit difficult to get into, but I definitely could manage. Next, I checked its location. It was about an hour from this pack, but only 25 minutes from Black Heart pack. This is when it hit me. I am actually going to switch packs.
I pulled out my phone and sent a quick text to Weston.
Hey, wanna work on college apps this weekend.
He answered almost immediately.
Yes! Omg finally I need some motivation! Let's apply to the same ones!
And with that, I smiled and went to bed.
Weston's mom was chatting our ears off about her college experience as we looked through all of our options.
"I loved living on campus, but my last year commuting helped me rekindle with my pack," she explained as she ate some chips at the table with us. She had promised to keep me applying to college a secret. She figured it was so I could surprise Luna, which I guess was partially true.
I was currently reading over Weston's essay while he was reading over mine. I wrote about the struggles of being adopted and not understanding my past. Weston was indulged in the essay, making me feel uneasy. The letter felt personal, which made it so good.
Scanning colleges on the common app, I unconsciously itched my arm.
"Did you run into some wolfsbane in the woods, sweetheart? Your arms are very red," Weston's mom pointed out. I glanced down to see that the spot I was itching as red and covered with bumps, similar to hives.
Confused, I studied the marks. These are consistent with wolfsbane, but normally it's not this inflamed. And I didn't remember running into any. "Oh, I went running yesterday, so I must've," I shrugged off, but secretly I began to worry. What the hell did Lilith do?
"Your essay is straight up amazing, Blaze!" Weston piped in, seemingly not aware of the conversation he interrupted. "A few grammar mistakes and I highlighted two sentences that could use some work." He handed me my lap top back, and I returned his.
His eyes perked up once he saw his computer. "North Wilson College? That's not that far, and it has both an architecture program and an exercise science one. We should apply!" He clapped his hands as he started typing away.
"Good idea," I pitched in, as if this idea was completely his.
Suddenly I felt itchier and more light headed. I stood up, not helping the case.
"I have a follow up appointment at the clinic soon. I'll see you tomorrow for the omega training." I gathered my things as quickly as possible before heading out. The sudden stress about my hives sat heavy on my chest, making it hard to breathe. In my car, I dared to feel my forehead. I was burning up. This definitely wasn't wolfsbane.
I drove to the clinic for my follow up appointment which was about to turn into me being treated I'm sure. Stumbling, I got into the clinic, now very very light headed. Suddenly, the world came crashing down. A nurse quickly came up to me and caught me from falling. I heard her yelling, but I was too out of it to understand her.
...